The Adorable Adventures of Prowl and Sari
by Juana la Cliker-Rooster
Summary: TF Animated. A cute series of everyday events involving Prowl and Sari. Prowl learns about candy, school, real sleepovers, stealing and so much more. What else could he expect from an eight year old?
1. Can I Have Some Candy? PLEASE?

**The Adorable Adventures of Prowl and Sari**

**Can I Have Some Candy? PLEASE??**

**Juana la Cliker-Rooster**

**2008**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**So this has been in my head for a while. I love Prowl and Sari's interaction on the show, it's so cute. He's very much like a father to her, and she looks up to him (literally and figuratively). so I just wrote up a series of everyday events revolving around them. More on the way!**

Sari has been living with us for approximately two weeks, four days, fourteen hours, eleven minutes and eight seconds. In that short amount of time, I have been spending all my free time in front of my personal computer, researching humans and their general needs, biological factors that none of us had ever thought possible before: the constant need for food and water, digestion, illness, waste and toilet paper, sleep, baths, soap for the body and soap for hair, clean clothing, exercise, education and most importantly love, happiness and attention. It's hard work, yes, but I love every moment of it.

There is however one thing I have discovered through the Internet and that is candy, one of Sari's favorite food groups. I have studied the humans' food pyramid; sugars are at the top, and it instructs that sugars be "used sparingly" for reasons of health, weight and blood sugar levels. So, like a good caretaker, I deny Sari her candies to protect her.

I've never seen a sparkling, human or Cybertronian, throw such a fit before in my entire function. I had to disable my own audios as she cried and yelled at me. Sari even said she hated me before I shut them off, and then, she had run off to her own room. Her shrieks of anger at me had echoed through our base and home, so it was no surprise when the others came running to the small kitchen we had all been building with the help of some builders sent to us from my good friend, Captain Fanzone.

Bulkhead's first reaction to me was,

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" I simply responded that I had denied Sari of something that was potentially unhealthy for her, because I cared for her. Bulkhead eyed me suspiciously, then walked off to talk to her on his own. I saw neither hair nor hide of either of them until the next day, when Sari, followed by Bulkhead, came to my room to apologize (reluctantly) for her outburst.

"Sari," I said reassuringly, "do not apologize. I understand that right now, you have a lot on your mind. Your father has gone missing, you've been denied access to your own home, and you've been shown a lack of evidence that you exist, although I get the feeling there's something that Powell man is hiding from you. I can—"

"No, Prowl. I'm really sorry," she said quietly, "I don't want you to hate me." I was shocked to hear this, because I could never hate little Sari. She was like a…what? A friend? A charge?

No. She was like the sparkling I had always wanted, and I would never let her believe for even a klik that I hated her. I loved Sari, the way her father loved her. She was my little girl for now, and I wanted us to have as wonderful a relationship with her as possible. I leaned over, picked her up as I had done hundred so times before and hugged her as best I could without harming her. She returned the hug and listened as I told her,

"Sari, you're a good girl. I just want you to be safe and healthy, that's all. How about we work out a system that allows you something sweet twice a day, one in the afternoon, and another after your eat dinner. Sound good?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, bouncy slightly in my arms, "that's cool!"

"Good," I said, "Because tomorrow, you and I are going food shopping for you. I already have a list of things to buy, and the best part is that they're all natural and very good for you."

".What?" She blinked, "Can't I just eat at Burger Bot every day?"

"No," I answer, "That's far too unhealthy for you. Do you know what they put in that stuff? Or DON'T put in it? Tons of sodium, fat, grease, sugar and other awful things—you'll be sick by the end of the week! Don't worry; you'll like what's on the list. Now it's getting late, and you need to go to bed."

"But," she protests, grabbing my fingers in her little hands, "you guys stay up all night! Why can't I?!"

"Because humans are not machines. We can stay online longer, but we eventually get our recharge in. Now, don't start an argument. Get ready for bed. Bulkhead, can you stay with her and see to it that she goes to bed?"

"Yeah," my large friend answers sleepily, "And then I gotta get some of that recharge myself. Come on, Sari, let's get ready for bed. I'll stay with you and we can fall asleep together."

"And brush your teeth, Sari!" I call after her, "I'm going to check them in ten minutes!" She doesn't respond which means she heard me. Humans have a very strange way of communicating, as the Internet and Sari's behaviors have taught me. Ever since she moved in, she's become less of a guest and more of a family member, which is fine, but sometimes her temper is hard to work with. We had never noticed it before.

* * *

The next morning, I wake Sari up and she groggily gets ready for the day. I supervise her as she eats her breakfast, brushes her teeth and combs her hair, but leave her room as she gets dressed. Sari has informed all of us that we are not allowed to see humans naked, because that's just the way it is. I can only imagine what strange things they must be hiding under their clothing. It is the one thing I refuse to look for on the Internet. Captain Fanzone has advised against it. Apparently we'll get a virus if we look for naked humans.

When she is dressed, I toss Sari her helmet and transform. She climbs on, and with shopping list in hand (somewhere in here), we go off on our little trip.

"Hey, Prowl?" she asks as we stop in the morning traffic, "What exactly is on that list of yours?" She sounds nervous.

"Sari, what are you so worried about?"

"I hate vegetables. I don't want us to get any, okay?" She squeezes my handlebars as though she were frightened.

"Are you allergic to them?"

"No, I just think they're icky." I groan silently, then say,

"If you aren't allergic, then we have nothing to fear. I'm sure there's a vegetable in there you'll like."

"If you were human you'd find them icky too, you know."

"Sari, I'm only doing what's best for you, and you should be a little more open too. I may be a robot, but I'm not ignorant. I've done my research, and I know what's good for you to eat. The food you've been eating is going to make you sick. I've watched documentaries about children and adults who lived almost exclusively on that 'fast' food, and they were all overweight, unhealthy, depressed, and sick. Some were nearly unable to move on their own. I don't want that to happen to you, Sari. You're too young to be so unhealthy. Also, have you seen the teeth of children that eat too much candy? The city is only giving us a weekly allowance to care for your basic needs, and we can't afford trips to a human doctor or dentist. Captain Fanzone had to go through enough trouble just to convince the mayor to give us this money we have."

"I've been eating that stuff since I was six, and I'm not fat!" Sari protested. That was true, but I told her that I had also read about the human metabolism, and that even though hers was fast right now, it didn't necessarily mean it would stay that way when she grew older. Sari grumbled something that I didn't catch, but I decided to leave it alone. We were drawing nearer to our destination.

"All right, Sari," I say as I pull into the parking lot, "off." She jumps off and crosses her arms as she glares up at me as I transform. Amazingly enough the market's doors are large enough to allow me entrance, and so the two of us step inside. Almost instantly we are confronted by several camera bots, a manager, and some market-drones.

"Hold on there, Autobot," says the manager, holding up both hands, "there is no way you can come in here." I look around and find that actually, I can. The ceilings are high, the place isn't too crowded, and the aisles are wide enough for me to pass through.

"Ma'am," I say to the manager, "I think we'll be all right. I'm her guardian; she isn't going in here by herself."

"But…" the manager looked around, saw that yes, I would be fine in here, then says, "Very well. But the minute you destroy something, you are out of here. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." She walks away, leaving Sari and I alone to do our shopping. I don't know where to begin, so I ask Sari.

"Well," she says slowly, suddenly smiling despite her prior anger at me, "I can go get some stuff. Just lend me a few bucks, like twenty, and I'll go get some stuff. Okay?"

"Absolutely not. I can see that gleam in your opt—eyes. You want to go buy as much candy as you can, and that is not going to happen." Sari stamps her foot and glares at me again.

"I thought you were cool, Prowl," she growls as she storms off to grab a cart, "but now you're just like a parent."

"I know," I chuckle as I bring out the shopping list I've written. I hand it to her and show her what we're looking for, but she only looks at it for a split second before saying,

"I can't read that. Either your handwriting is really bad, or that's a different language." I take a look at the list and realize only now that I've written it in Cybertronian. Oh well. I'll just read it aloud to her.

"All right, Sari. The first thing on the list are…um…vegetables."

* * *

Optimus Prime and the rest of the team are watching television, carefree and feeling fine when we enter the base a few hours later. Whatever comedy show they were watching is suddenly ignored, and their laughter ceases as I step into the main room, covered in smashed vegetables, sticky with fruit juice, filthy with dirt, and one leg wrapped in toilet paper.

Sari runs to her room giggling and locks the door, leaving me standing there, furious and dirty. I place four small shopping bags on the floor and walk off silently to the back, where I know there is a working hose as well as a towel waiting for me. I have never been so humiliated in my function. Sari is going to get the talking-to of her life tonight.

After my shower, I return to the shopping bags and carry them into the small makeshift kitchen Captain Fanzone has helped us set up with the help of a local charity league (who have taken a vow of secrecy about the whereabouts of our base) and start to place the 'perishables' into the 'refrigerator'. Bulkhead comes in and watches me for a short while, then says,

"Do you need any help?" I turn to face him and nod.

"Please."

Bulkhead walks over and starts to help me place things away, asking about each one. He inquires about the different juices, milk, butter, fruits, bread and cereals…all of it. I answer as best I can, with what little knowledge I have gained about human food so far. He is fascinated especially by the fruits, which contain brilliant colors and shapes, and from what I understand, flavors. Sari did agree on a few of them, thankfully, and I carefully hold the grapes she picked out as I show them to Bulkhead. He's just as fascinated by them as I am, and proceeds to poke at the other fruits.

"Prime is talking to Sari right now," he suddenly says, "what the frag happened to you with her?"

"I figured that much. She terrorized me, to put it simply. I refused to let her buy any candy, since it's bad for her, and she pretty much lost her mind. I've never seen Sari like that in the time we've known her. I don't know what I'm going to say to her tonight; I don't want to yell at her. She and I spend much of our time together, and I'd rather not lose that bond."

"Yeah," nodded Bulkhead as he placed a jar of peanut butter in a rocky cabinet, "I know what you mean. I think as long as you keep calm, she'll listen. Tell her what she did was wrong, and ask her how you guys can make it better. That should work."

"You're probably right, Bulkhead. Thank you." I place half a loaf of bread in the freezer, "I just don't understand why the humans would manufacture food that's bad for their younglings. If it's going to make them sick, wouldn't that be a good excuse to take it off the shelves? The natural foods were more expensive than the junk foods. Why would they let that happen?"

"I dunno," Bullhead placed something called 'strawberry yogurt' in the fridge, "maybe it's a government conspiracy."

"Perhaps. But why would their government want to hurt their own people?"

"I dun—uh-oh. I thought you said you guys weren't buying any candy." I stop what I'm doing and place the box of pasta I'm handling on the counter.

"We didn't buy any candy. What are you—SARI!!"

* * *

"Just what were you thinking, Sari?" Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, Ratchet and I stood in front of the little girl, arms crossed and all extremely upset and disappointed. Sari is sitting at her bed, legs crossed, head down, twiddling her thumbs. It looks like she wishes to spring a leak, or 'cry' as the humans call it, but she's holding back.

"I dunno…" she answers quietly.

"Sari, you stole three bags of candy from the store. You were obviously thinking something."

"I was thinking about how you said I could have something sweet to eat everyday."

"You thought I was referring to candy?" Obviously, I had meant fruit, not candy. Sari looked up at me and stuck out her tongue, a gesture we were all unfamiliar with.

"Sari, listen. Prowl is just trying to make sure you're safe and healthy. I don't know much about this 'candy'", says Optimus, "but I trust him when he says it's unhealthy for you. The two of you are going to have to work something out, because this kind of behavior from you is going to have to stop. You and Prowl are going to go back to the store and you're going to return that candy to the manager personally. Is that understood?'

"WHAT!? But—"

"No excuses, Sari. You're going to take responsibility for your actions."

"You guys are taking this way too seriously," spat Sari, "There's no need for this."

"Listen to me, young lady," growled Ratchet, leaning down closer to her, "This is the least of your problems regarding this little stunt. I think some kind of punishment is in order here."

"You guys wouldn't punish me," Sari laughed, "I'm too cool to be punished."

"I think that's a great idea, Ratchet," agreed Prime to Sari's dismay, "we'll think of something while these two are out. Prowl, Sari, get going. Here's the candy," he hands me one grocery bag containing the three candy bags. I take Sari's hand between two fingers and pull her along, even though she tries to fight, transform and wait for her to jump on. She stares at me angrily, her arms crossed and she nearly kicks one of my tires, but then thinks better of it. After several minutes of this, she sighs and jumps on, fastens her helmet and we take off.

On the road, we hit a bit of traffic, so I ask her,

"What are you going to say to the manager when we see her?"

"I dunno."

"Sari."

"I'll say I'm sorry and here's the stupid candy back."

"Sari, there's no need for that sort of language. Your attitude is awful today. What's wrong? I know there's something else going on here."

"Nothing," she mumbles, and that only tells me that yes, there is something wrong here. Most likely having to do with the disappearance of her father, but I decide now is not the best time to discuss it. We reach the supermarket eventually, and Sari jumps off, allowing me to transform. I hand her the bag of candy and we walk into the store again, and once again the manager comes over to stop us.

"What's going on?" she asks, "What do you need? I'll get it for you, just please don't come back in here." Apparently no one liked having me in the store. Regardless, I kneel down slowly and say,

"Go ahead, Sari." The little girl bows her head shamefully, then holds up the bag of stolen candy.

"Um…I kinda…stole some candy from the store," she mumbles, "and I'm here to return it." The manager looks taken aback, then takes the bag and looks inside it, checking to see if this is really happening. She looks up at me, then back at Sari, then at me again.

"Well," she said, "it seems you giant robots aren't all that bad after all. You did the right thing, bringing this candy back, young lady, because guess what."

"What?"

"I saw you steal the candy in the first place. You would have been banned from this store if you hadn't returned it. I'm glad that your guardian is responsible enough to bring you back here and apologize."

Both Sari and I are stunned. I'm a bit upset that the manager didn't inform me of Sari's stealing when it happened, but perhaps this helped her trust us a bit more. Sari plays with her hands, then says,

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it. Am I still allowed in here?"

"Yes, but not alone. You'll have to have your guardian with you whenever you come here."

"Prowl's allowed to come in?"

"Now he is. He's earned the right. Before was more of a test drive for us, to see if he would cause any damage."

"Thank you," I say, "and thank you for not being too hard on Sari. We're going to have a talk about this when we get home, isn't that right, Sari?"

"…Yeah. But I'm not gonna like it."

"Neither am I. Thank you, ma'am, for being so understanding." The manager nodded and said,

"Thank you for bringing the candy back. You're welcome back here anytime."

* * *

Sari walked to her room as soon as we arrived home, but I followed after her and refused to let her slam the door in my face. Instead, I sat down next to her bed and said,

"Have you learned your lesson, Sari?"

"Just leave me alone already! Yes, okay? Now just go away." She turned over so that her back is facing me.

"Sari, what's going on? I know there's something else bothering you." Sari turns to face me, jumps to her feet and yells,

"You know, my dad let me do and have whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it. I was fine doing that before you guys came along, and I can still do it. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself! Stop treating me like I'm incapable!"

So that's the problem. I listen quietly, then think of a response.

"Sari," I start as I pick her up, "I know you miss your father. We're doing what we can to find him, you know that. Captain Fanzone has a team searching for him. I'm doing this because I want you to know that someone cares about you enough to want to take care of you. I'm not trying to make your life difficult, I promise. I just want you to be happy and safe, because I can see that you aren't happy, and with the Decepticons out there, you aren't safe, either."

"I'm FINE," she retorted angrily, "And I can take care of myself."

"Very well," I said, "I won't treat you like you're incapable, I promise. You can make your own dinner and take baths on your own, and go to bed when you are supposed to, right?"

"YES," she answered. I shrugged and said,

"Well, that's good enough for me. I'll leave you alone, all right?"

"FINALLY! Thank you." I got to my feet and left her room, hoping my plan of 'reverse psychology' would work. Sari plopped back down on her bed with a sigh and turned on her television, and I simply closed the door.

I decided to go watch some television myself, so I walked to our main room, where Bulkhead and Bumblebee were playing a game. Too tired to care, I sat down and watched them play for an hour before I could hear Sari scuffling around the little kitchen. Something fell and clanged to the floor, but I pretended to not hear it. Next, the sound of Sari's feet jumping up and down to reach something can be heard, and then something dry spills all over the floor. It sounds like the box of pasta.

Now, I hear water running into a pot, and I can only imagine how this is going to end. Sure enough, the deafening sound of metal on the floor and the splash of water echo into the living room, where both Bulkhead and Bumblebee, oblivious before, now jump in surprise to the clattering sound.

"What WAS that?" asked Bulkhead, shaking just a bit. It's known he doesn't like big, unexpected sounds. From the kitchen, Sari calls,

"Hey, um…Prowl? Can you help me in here?"

I simply cannot hide the smile that breaks out on my face as I get up to help her.

* * *

**I stole a pack of gum when I was five. My mom made me return it to the store and apologize to whoever was working there. **


	2. The Punishment

**The Adorable Adventures of Prowl and Sari**

**Chapter Two: The Punishment**

"This is boring!" Sari yells at me from the floor, "This is a dumb punishment!" I look down at her from my place in my tree and answer,

"After you've raked up all the leaves in here, you can go help Ratchet clean some tools. He has a lot that need to be polished. Also, there are some dishes that need to be washed." Sari groans and continues raking the fallen leaves and grumbles something, but I ignore it and simply chuckle a response.

"Never try to get away with anything around the Ninja-bot."

* * *

**I once smashed a bottle in an alley way. My dad made me sweep up the whole alley way.**


	3. Schooling

**The Adorable Adventures of Prowl and Sari**

**Chapter Three: Schooling**

"Bored. Bored bored bored. Prowl, I'm BORED." Sari was sprawled on the floor in my room, eyes closed and kicking her legs up while her arms flailed about in the air. It wasn't a temper tantrum, it was merely her being, well, bored.

"If you need something to do, perhaps you should do some homework." I suggest, earning a small gasp from the little girl on the floor.

"Homework? Homework is evil, Prowl! Didn't you know that? It sucks out your brain and makes you into a zombie." I chuckle, because it's so obviously something a human child would say. Then it suddenly hits me that in the few weeks Sari has been living with us, she hasn't received any education, and I am suddenly alarmed.

"Sari, I'll be right back. I have to ask Optimus something."

"Okay!" She continues to lay on the floor, oblivious to what I'm about to go do.

I leave my room and walk towards Prime's and knock on the door.

"Come in," he calls. I enter his room, a well-lit space filled with books and data pads. Optimus himself is sitting at his desk watching yet another history vid about the Great War.

"Prowl. What can I do for you? Sit down."

"Thank you. Optimus, it's about Sari. I just realized a moment ago that she hasn't been keeping up with her education. None of us know what to teach her. I'm thinking it may be time to send her to a school."

Optimus is quiet, listening to the suggestion and mulling it over in his head. At length, he sits up in his chair and answers,

"That's a fantastic idea. Sari does spend all her time doing nothing. How do we go about this education process?"

"I can call one of the local public schools and see if they'll take her. We'll tell her tomorrow. She isn't going to be happy about it, though."

"Regardless," said Optimus, "it'll be safer for her. We do patrol in the morning and afternoon every day. She'll be in school during this time, which means she'll be watched over there. She'll have the opportunity to make new friends too. She needs that kind of interaction."

"Sounds good," I say, "I'm going to go do some research on the local schools here. Perhaps Captain Fanzone can assist me in the matter." I get up and leave to make the call, hoping to Primus that Fanzone will help us in this little but important matter.

"Yo. Fanzone here. How can I help you?"

"Good afternoon, Captain." A slight pause on his end of the line. Then,

"Oh, fer cryin' out loud. Listen, you're a great guy an' all, but—"

"What can you tell me about the elementary education facilities around Detroit? How would I go about contacting one and enrolling Sari into their program?" I decide to get right to the point, since the Captain seems upset about my calling him. He pauses again, then sighs,

"Well, uh, I know there's a fantastic school on Meadow street. East Detroit Elementary school. Intelligent teachers, nice building, playground, decent lesson plans and units. Kids there are nice, too. I've done my share of police lectures over there about drugs an' crime. It's a clean, safe place. I guess I would recommend that one. Their number is—"

I save the number he gives me into my memory, then thank him for his help.

"Don't worry about it," he replies, "You're takin' a real interest in the Sumdac kid, and that's what's important. She needs a family right now. Let me give you one warning, though: kids can be cute, but the minute you make them do somethin' they don't wanna do, it blows up in yer face. She's gonna throw a fit the moment you mention the word 'school'."

"Oh, yes. I've seen these 'fits' before. I refuse her candy."

"Brave man. Yeah. Just stay calm, and do an observation at the school. Maybe tour it with her, meet some teachers and students. She probably won't warm up to it, but don't let her control you, even if she screams bloody murder."

"…What?" Does he mean Sari could scream herself to death? Fanzone laughs and answers,

"It means she'll just scream until she can't scream anymore. Don't let her control you, and help with her homework, but never do it for her."

"Of course."

"All right. You good?"

"I'm good."

"Good. Call me if you need any more help with the kid, okay Prowl?"

"Yes. Thank you, Captain." We cut our connections, and I dial in the number of the facility he has given me. I hear a ring for thirty seconds before a tired, annoyed-sounding older woman answers,

"You've reached East Detroit Elementary School. My name is Mildred, how can I help you." I'm hesitant at first, merely because the woman's bored voice intimidates me. Then I clear my vocals and answer,

"Hi, yes. I'm calling to make an appointment to—"

"What kind of appointment." The rude woman hadn't even allowed me to state my reason. I try again this time being a bit more forceful.

"I want to do an observation at your school for my, um….little girl. She's eight."

"Second grade. All right, let me see what I can do…." She puts me on hold for ten minutes, then comes back on.

"Okay, I talked to Mrs. Holland. She's one the second grade teachers here, and she says she can fit you and your daughter in on Friday at 10 in the morning. Sound good?" Today is Thursday, so I decide to take the appointment.

"Uh…yes. Wonderful. One quick question: how big are your classrooms and hallways?"

"…."

* * *

That night is nerve-wracking for me, as the humans say. I helped Sari make something for dinner before we sat down to watch a movie with Bulkhead and Bumblebee. She began to nod off, and I can't decide if it would be better to tell her tomorrow rather than tonight. We run the risk of her running away, or throwing a fit, and we all need recharge tonight. The news will have to wait.

Sari falls asleep halfway through the movie, so I carefully carry her to her room, tuck her in and close the door quietly before making my way over to Optimus' room once more to inform him about the appointment.

"So," he says as I enter once again, "what happened?"

"Well," I start as I sit down, "We have an appointment for Friday at 10 in the morning. I have yet to inform Sari. I'll tell her tomorrow. Also, Captain Fanzone was very helpful." Optimus leans back in his chair and mulls over the information.

"Sounds good. Is it going to be just you and Sari?"

"Yes. I doubt they can fit anyone else in their school. There will be small children everywhere."

"And they know you're one of the Autobots?"

"Yes. The woman I spoke to nearly had a spark-attack when I told her, but I managed to calm her down." Optimus nods, then says,

"Good work, Prowl. You're taking wonderful care of Sari, you know. And she really enjoys being around you." I shake my head and respond,

"I don't think so. I've made her angry on a few occasions. Remember the candy incident?"

"Sari was acting like any other eight year old would. I read it on a website. They're supposed to get angry when they don't get their way, Prowl. It's normal. And she hasn't run away yet. She spends as much time as she can with you, sometimes more than with Bumblebee. You haven't noticed?"

"No." Optimus' surprised face tells me that I should reconsider my own feelings about the matter, because apparently I've been doing a good job.

"Prowl, you're doing fine. Sari looks to you as her…well, a father figure, I suppose. We'll tell her the news tomorrow, and we'll do all we can to make her understand why she needs to go to school." I nod and get up to leave without saying anything, because I don't know what to say. I can hear Optimus getting to his feet behind me, and before I know it, his hand is on my shoulder and says,

"You're doing well, Prowl. Don't start doubting yourself now."

"Thank you. Thank you, Optimus. I won't."

"See that you don't." He lets me leave, and I head back to my own room to ponder the joys of breaking the news to Sari.

The next morning, the base is filled with the sounds of Sari and Bumblebee laughing over some cartoon in the main room. Optimus and I walk in together, and I say,

"Sari, could you come with us to your room for a few minutes? We need to talk with you." Sari turns to face us and her face falls.

"Why?" she asks defensively, "What'd I do?"

"Nothing. I just need to tell you something. Come on. Bumblebee, you stay here."

"What? No way. You can say what you need to say in front of both us."

"No, we can't," steps in Optimus, "this is just between us and Sari. For now, at least. Sari, come on." The little girl groans in annoyance, then walks sluggishly over to us and leads us to her room. Once inside Optimus closes the door, and I ask Sari to sit down.

"What's going on? Did I do something bad?"

"Sari," I begin, "I need to remain calm. No screaming, no running, nothing. All right?"

"Whatever. Now tell me!"

"Sari, it's time you went back to school."

Silence. Her annoyed face scrunches into a shocked one. She shakes her head and says in disbelief,

"No…no! I don't wanna go to school!" She jumps on her bed so she can hit my leg as high as possible, and I simply pick her up by her shirt, hold her up to eye-level and say,

"Sari, don't start with me. You and I are going to visit a school tomorrow morning. You need to start going back to school."

"But...but why? What did I do? Are you guys trying to get rid of me!?"

"Of course not, Sari. We all love you very much. We want you to be happy, and to be safe. I've given you this speech several times now. We're always out, and I hate leaving you home alone. You're extremely capable of taking care of yourself, you've proven yourself many times. But we can't teach you the necessary things you need to know in life, especially since we aren't human, and we aren't always around. That's why it's time to send you to school. And you'll meet new people, make new friends!"

"Yeah, but then I'll have to do homework."

"I will help you with that, don't worry. Will you at least give school a try?" Sari crosses her arms, then says,

"Fine. But I won't like it."

"I know," I answer with a small smile before getting serious, "Promise me you won't run away?"

"I promise I won't run away." She smiles back, surprisingly, as I lower her back onto her bed.

"That's a good girl. Now you can go back to your cartoons. Just don't tell Bumblebee yet, all right?"

"Why?"

"Because he's extremely immature and will be very upset. This can be our little secret, okay?" She giggles and nods before she runs off. Optimus and I are left standing in her room, both surprised. He looks at me, I look at him, and we both say,

"Too easy."

"Do you think she's already planning something to get us to change our minds?" Optimus asks, his paranoia kicking in already. I shake my head and answer,

"Perhaps she…likes the idea of making new friends? Human friends? There are many things she cannot talk to us about, and perhaps having some human female friends is promising."

"What wouldn't she be able to talk about with us?" I look up at him with a serious face and answer,

"Go to afraidtoask dot com. You will see."

* * *

The next morning, Sari and I prepare for our visit to the school. I help Sari brush her hair and make sure she has something to eat while I prepare a quick lunch for her. She's a little nervous, and still a little upset that I was making her do this, but at least she wasn't yelling at me or hitting my leg.

Outside, as I toss her helmet to her, she asks me to change my holoform to something that looked more like her. So I play around with scans of people I had recorded from my time at the park, and eventually create a middle-aged human male with Sari's dark skin. She loves it and claps her hands in delight. Then, climbing onto my vehicle mode, we finally go on our way.

On the drive, I ask Sari if she is feeling all right. She squeezes my handlebars and answers,

"Not really. I really don't wanna do this, Prowl. Why can't I be home-schooled?"

"Because we can't afford it. Sari, you'll meet new people here, friends you can talk to! I will even allow you to have two play dates a month and one sleepover a month. I promise. But you need to be open about attending school and doing your homework."

"…Sleepovers? Really?" I can hear the rising excitement in her voice, "That sounds like fun! I haven't had a sleepover since that time the base came to life!"

"I remember." I shudder at the memory…she could have been killed that night.

"I remember 'cause you were havin' a really bad day." She giggles. "Why do you like to hide from us and be alone all the time?"

"Some people simply enjoy their privacy. I like to listen to silence and the sounds of the natural world. The wind, chirping birds, the rustling of leaves, all of it…I find it relaxing."

"Yeah, but isn't it boring?"

"Not really, no. I suppose it depends on the person and their personal preferences. Not everyone is going to like the same things as others. For instance, you and Bumblebee enjoy loud music. I do not. However that does not mean it's bad, it simply means that…well, to each their own."

"What does that mean?" Sari asks while yawning.

"It means that even though I dislike your music, I understand that there is nothing I can do to change that, and that you should be allowed to like what you want, and let others like what they want to like."

"Oh. Okay. Uh oh…is that the school?" I focus my optics and see that yes, the school is coming up on us, and fast. I slow down and we roll into the schoolyard quietly. Apparently children 'go insane' when they see a motorcycle. Sari climbs off and allows me to transform. I would go in using my holoform if I could control it to do other things, but for now, all it does is stand in whatever position to I program it into. So I'm forced to enter the school in my robot mode. Sari jumps up and grabs one of my fingers, grasping it tightly in what I interpret as anxiety.

A human comes running out of the building, having no doubt seen my transformation. He holds up both hands and says in a loud, slow voice,

"GOOD! MORN! ING! ARE! YOU! HERE! FOR THE! OB! SER! VATION?"

"Why are you talkin' like that?" Sari asks, cocking her head to the side in puzzlement. I chuckle, not offended at all and answer,

"Good morning. Yes, we're here for the observation. My name is Prowl, and this is Sari. She's a tad nervous." The man nods and puts his hands down. He's shaking just a bit, so I move very slowly as he beckons us inside the building. Surprisingly, the school has very wide-open hallways and lobby. Several more humans run out to see us, and each gapes at me as though I were a giant ro—oh, right.

"Good morning," says one slightly chubby woman, holding out a chubby little hand. I reach down and offer her one of my fingers for her to shake, "my name is Mrs. St. John. I'll be taking you over to Ms. Holland's room for the observation, and then I'll be giving you a tour of the school." She looks down at Sari and says, "Hi there, young lady! What's your name?"

"I'm Sari."

"Oh, dear. For what?"

"No, I mean my name is Sari. S-A-R-I."

"Oh," says Mrs. St. John with a smile, "isn't that nice? And how old are you, Sari?" Sari looks up at me and says,

"I thought you told them this stuff, Prowl." I chuckle and reply,

"Sari, don't worry. I think they just want to connect with you is all. Go on, tell her your age." Sari looks back at the chubby woman, somewhat suspiciously, then answers,

"I'm eight. Are there a lot of eight year olds here?" Mrs. St. John and I both laugh before the woman answers,

"Of course. In fact, we're going to go meet some of them right now. Come along, both of you; let's go visit Ms. Holland, all right?' Sari looks up at me nervously and gestures for me to lean in closer. She whispers into my audio,

"What if they don't like me?"

"Who?"

"The other kids. What if they make fun of me?" I smile and answer,

"Don't worry, Sari. They won't make fun of you." Mrs. St. John is watching us intently, probably shocked by the interaction between the two of us. Sari is really the only human any of us have such a tight relationship with. She tightens her grip around my finger and says,

"Don't leave me, okay Prowl? Don't walk away from me."

"I won't Sari. I promise. Now, let's get moving—I think Mrs. St. John wants to show us your new classroom." Sari nods and we start to the follow the woman, who is wearing a ridiculous smile now. I can sense her nervousness, but I'm not bothered by it. Part of me is feeling extra protective, and for the first time, I want the humans to fear me. I want them to believe I'll rip their hearts out if anything happens to Sari, even though I would never do such a thing.

We walk down a short hallway for about forty seconds before Mrs. St. John stops in front of a closed door. The door is covered with fake cardboard leaves with names on them, written in large black letters. There are fourteen leaves in all, including one leaf that has 'Ms. Holland' written neatly on it.

"Welcome to Ms. Holland's second grade classroom, Sari," says Mrs. St. John, "why don't we go inside and say hello?" Sari looks back up at me, and I nod. She looks back at the chubby woman and nods as well. Mrs. St. John opens the door, and our audios are assaulted by the noise fo thirteen eight year old children, yelling, laughing, screaming and jumping around. The older person in the room, who I'm assuming is Ms. Holland, walks over and says loudly over the noise,

"Good morning! I'm Ms. Holland. I'm sorry about the kids, they saw you transform outside and went nuts. They're really excited! Is this Sari Sumdac?" She turns around and yells,

"I'm going to count to three, and if I see even one person out of the seat and not reading, the entire class is staying in fro recess!" As soon as she started counting, the room fell silent and children scrambled for their seats, although I doubted they were reading. Their eyes were darting over towards us every few seconds. Ms. Holland continues.

"Welcome. Now that it's a little quieter, I can tell you a bit about this room. We do lots of fun activities, like reading and writing, and we also do one school play at the end of the year. We have two recess periods, and we work on all sorts of fun projects! Sari, would you like to meet our class?" Sari once again looks up at me and I answer,

"That's a wonderful idea. Go on, Sari. Go say hello." I left my hand in an attempt to get Sari to let go, but it only lifts her up a foot high. Some of the students giggle and some gasp in amazement.

"Sari, let go, please. Go ahead, they won't hurt you." Sari at first refuses and tightens her grip, and I can see just how scared she really is. But then a student in the room calls out,

"I like your hair! It's pretty." Sari peers into the room and sees another dark-skinned little girl smiling wide at her and waving. Sari waves back shyly, then slowly releases my finger and drops to the ground, landing on her feet. Then she slowly walks into the room and stands in front of the students. She is instantly thrown question after question:

"How do you know the Autobots?"

"Why are you with one?"

"Do you speak another language?"

"Are you from another country?"

"Do you like to play with dolls and dress-up?"

"What's your name again?"

Sari answers each question with sudden confidence and a smile, and even I learn a few new things about her. Apparently her father was from a country called India, and they occasionally spoke Indian to each other, but mostly English. Sari makes friends easily, and she already seems to like the students in this classroom. Ms. Holland walks back into her room and talks a bit about Sari, and how she might be joining their class very soon. Eventually, she asks Sari if she would like to stay and sit in on the class, which Sari says she would like to do, and I watch the class resume itself outside in the hall.

So far, so good. Sari seems happy enough, and the students in the room like her so far. I observe the interaction of student-student relationships, as well as teacher-student relationships. Students love Ms. Holland, and Ms. Holland loves her students in a platonic manner. I'm not worried. Everyone seems to very happy in this room. Even Sari looks on at the other dark-skinned girl's homework and doesn't seem that frightened by it. She shoots me a thumbs-up, which I've come to understand is a positive gesture. I smile to acknowledge it, and Sari returns to her new friend.

Eventually, a bell rings, and the entire school seems to go wild. I can hear children yelling in all the other rooms, and Mrs. St. John explains that this bell at this time signifies the start of the lunch and recess period. Sari runs over to me and asks if she can go with her new friends to lunch.

"Of course you can. Here's your lunch. Go make some new friends." Sari hugs my leg and grabs her new friend's hand,

"This is Avani. She's Indian too! Avari, this is Prowl! He's one of my Autobot dads! And I have an Autobot grandpa and two big brothers!"

Autobot dad? She sees us as her fathers? My spark tightens in its casing as I smile and say,

"Hello. It's very nice to meet you, Avari." The little girl smiles, and she has a gap in between her front teeth.

"I lost a tooth!" she yells happily, "and now the tooth fairy is gonna come visit me!"

"Tooth fairy? Is someone going to break into your house?" I hear Ms. Holland and Mrs. St. John laugh behind me.

"Don't worry, Mr. Autobot, we'll explain outside. Avari, why don't you take care of Sari and have lunch with her? Introduce her to some new people."

"Okay!" the happy little girl exclaimed and she pulled Sari away along with the other children following. I watch her go and feel a twinge of pride at how adaptable Sari really is. I turn my attention back to the human adults and ask,

"What is a tooth fairy?"

* * *

"So Sari, how did you like school?" Sari is sitting on the couch with Bumblebee but talking to Optimus. She smiles and answers,

"It's not as bad as I thought. I thought it was gonna be boring like Tutor-bot's lessons, but it's really fun! I made a bunch of friends too! Even the grown-ups were nice." She jumps to her feet, leaps over Bumblebee and tackles me, and I pretend to fall over from her strength.

"Thank you for bringing me there, Prowl," she says sweetly, "I guess it won't be such a bad thing that I go to school. I've never gone to school with other kids before." She plops down into my lap and leans against my chest as though dozing off.

"I agree," I reply, "the teachers there were very nice. They were just as excited as you were, Sari. After you went to lunch with everyone I stayed and talked with them and asked them questions. We can send you there everyday starting Monday."

"Okay. Oh, my gosh! We need to buy school stuff! I need a notebook and pencils and markers and erasers and a calculator and a ruler and a binder and—"

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, Sari, we'll do that tomorrow. I'm just happy you're so excited by this. I was afraid you were going to be very defiant."

"What's 'defiant' mean?"

"It means I was afraid you were going to fight me on the matter." I look over at the clock and realize it's getting late now. We didn't arrive home right away, Sari asked to stay after for a few hours to play on the playground with Avari, and then she was hungry again. I let her stop for pizza (but only because it was Friday).

"All right, Sari. It's time for bed. Go get ready and I'll read you a bedtime story."

"Aw, man…."

"I'll let you choose which story you want."

"Okay!" Sari kisses the surprisingly quiet Bumblebee goodnight, then ran off to get herself ready for bed. Optimus walks over to me and sits down.

"Nice work, Prowl. I can't believe this worked so well. The school was in good condition? Was it a safe place?"

"Very. Sari will be happy there. And I doubt anyone would want to mess with her, considering her family are the Autobots. Do you know what she called me today?" Optimus leaned forward with a worried look on his face.

"What? Did she use a bad word?"

"She called me one of her 'Autobot dads'. 'Dad' means father, or creator. She's adopted us as her family unit, Optimus! She loves us like a family! She said she had an Autobot grandfather, most likely Ratchet, and two Autobot brothers, probably Bulkhead and Bumblebee. She sees you and me as her fathers! I've never been happy in my function!"

Optimus' jaw is figuratively on the floor, but he looks just as happy as me. Sari sees us as her family, and none of us could be happier.

"Why can't she be homeschooled?" Bumblebee's annoyed voice cuts through the light mood in the room, and we're back in reality. I look over at the young 'bot and answer,

"Because we can't always be there for her. She likes the school, and she needs to be around other human children. We can't always be there to hold her hand."

"Yeah, but—"

"No 'buts', Bumblebee," steps in Optimus, "This discussion is over. NOW." Bumblebee slumps angrily, but he doesn't press the subject anymore. I get up from my seat and walk towards the little bathroom to check on Sari and make sure she's brushing her teeth.

Sari is already done with her bathroom ritual and is wearing her little night shirt when I enter her room. She has a book in her hands and a big smile on her face. I sit down beside her, take the book and start reading. When I'm done, Sari jumps up, throws her little arms around my neck and kisses my cheek.

"Thank you, Prowl. I love you."

* * *

**afraidtoask dot com is a real website.**


	4. What To Do In the Event of Puking

**The Adorable Adventures of Prowl and Sari**

**Chapter Four: What to Do in the Event of Puking**

The human body is fascinating. Their muscles, bones, nerves, blood and organs are all working together to help the body function. I love reading about it, I love watching documentaries about it, and I've even tried my hand at drawing it (I've learned that I am a horrible artist).

And then one day, Sari became sick. Never before was I so disgusted by what I witnessed firsthand. This was worse than any documentary I had ever seen before. Sari called it 'puking'. The Internet had many names for it. But all I know is I hate every moment of it and can't wait for Sari to get better. I think it was the cleaning up part that I was most disgusted with, seeing as Sari had not made it to the bathroom in time. Thankfully, we have concrete floors, and none of that carpeting stuff. Cleaning it up was easier than it should have been.

The next several days consisted of warming up blankets, watching cartoons in her bed all day, chasing her around the base to give Sari her medicine, watching her sleep for fear of her puking again, taking her temperature constantly, hugging her, giving her lots of water and making chicken noodle soup. I didn't let her go outside, and I certainly did not let her play with Bumblebee. Sari got better in a few days and before long, she was off again, getting into trouble and finding new adventures with Bumblebee.

Needless to say, my systems were so overworked and unprotected that I was next in line to catch a virus. Ratchet found it hilarious.

* * *

**I'm glad people like this story so far. I wanted to keep it real and use everyday situations. I think it's cute.**

**-Juana**


	5. Part Two: Can I Have Some Candy? PLEASE?

**The Adorable Adventures of Prowl and Sari**

**Chapter Five: Part Two: Can I have Some Candy, Please?! **

Sari had been extremely good about not having any candy, and it only made me suspicious. So I went on a little mission while she was at her new school, and sure enough, there were two candy machines in her room accompanied with a badly written note from Bumblebee.

'I herd teh ninja bot waznt letting u have any candy (written with a backwards 'y' of course), so heerz a hole bunch! -BBB'

Needless to say, the two of them received the harshest talking-to of the century. The candy machines couldn't be returned for some odd, obscure reason related to Bumblebee's antics, so we had them placed in the living room where we could monitor how much was taken out a day. Sari was given an allowance of candy rather than of monetary units for any chores she did, and she was quite content with it.

I also spent a lot of time teaching Bumblebee how to spell while Sari was at school. I made them both take spelling tests in the base, and most of the time, Sari received the higher grade. Bumblebee is not happy about this at all. And I'm just fine with that.

* * *

**How cool would it be to have a candy machine in your room? Seriously? Jolly Ranchers whenever you wanted!**


	6. Television is Evil

**Long time no update. Been…not busy, really. Just hit some writer's block. Other things on my mind. It's not important. Anyways, this chapter isn't the best, nor is it really any good. I guess I'm just trying to use every situation I can think of, and writing how I think the 'Bots would react. Especially Prowl, since he's the main Autobot in this series of cuteness.**

**Read, review like big people, and don't complain. It's just a fic, seriously.**

**-Juana**

* * *

**Chapter Six: Television is Evil**

As a general rule, Sari isn't allowed to watch certain television programs in our base, and that includes the widely popular 'emm-tee-vee'. Cartoon channels (Fanzone has informed me that it is normal for children to watch cartoons), the Nature Channel, and even the Edible Consumptions Channel are allowed, as long as there is some merit of education to it.

But one day, I allowed Sari to go over to Avani's house, and I never once suspected that Avani's parents allowed her to watch programs that weren't age-appropriate. I had picked Sari up around five, and we drove home without any problems. Sari chattered about the games they had played, and mentioned some show I had never heard of, but that was all. But back in the base, Sari did something I never wanted her to do again.

She had gone into the kitchen to make dinner, and came back ten minutes later to the living room, where she sat down on the couch and placed her newly made peanut butter sandwich on the table. Her eyes were fixed on the television as she placed it down on the table, and when it fell out of her hand and onto the floor, she gasped out,

"Oh, shit!"

I was towering over her not less than three second later, hands on my hips and extremely angry.

"What did you just say, young lady?" I couldn't believe the growl that escaped my throat, and neither could the others.

"What?" Sari looked up innocently with her trademarked smile, as though trying to convince me that nothing had happened, but my persistent 'stare of death', as Bumblebee dubbed it later on, told her that she was in trouble for swearing.

"What did you just say?" I repeated, not taking my optics off her. Sari groaned and argued angrily,

"But—Prowl, you guys swear all the time! I've heard Ratchet and Bumblebee do it!" I shook my head and say,

"I do not, Sari. You know that. Ratchet is older and more set in his ways, and he swears in our language. Bumblebee is also older, but he will be spoken to later tonight about it, too. You, however, are far too young to use such language, and you will be punished for using it."

"Oh come on! Why do you always have to punish me? It's just a stupid word!"

"And one 'stupid word' leads to more. If I ever catch that word or others like it leaving your mouth, Captain Fanzone has informed me of something called 'washing one's mouth out with soap'. I will do it if you ever, EVER use that sort of language again, is that understood?"

Sari was furious, and for the first time in a few weeks, she jumped up and actually screamed at me,

"I HATE YOU, YOU BIG DUMB STUPID ROBOT! YOU'RE SO MEAN! YOU DON'T LET ME DO ANYTHING! I'M BIG ENOUGH TO DO AND SAY WHATEVER I WANT, YOU STUPID-HEAD!" She suddenly cowered as she realized what sheds said, and who she said it to. But I didn't react. I didn't speak, I didn't move, I didn't do anything. I simply stood there, completely still and silent, staring hard at her with angry optics.

Sari suddenly jumped off the couch and ran to her room as fast as she could. We all heard her door slamming, and I think that for the first time, she was scared of me and what I could do to her. Of course, there is nothing I would ever do to harm her, but she's young. Optimus looked over at me and said,

"Maybe you should have been a bit less—"

"NO," I cut in sharply, "no, Optimus. She's going to be punished for this. Don't worry; it isn't as though I plan on hurting her. I might make her write a paper about her behavior and what led to her swearing, as a simple punishment. Nothing more." Bulkhead stomped over and bent over to look at me with an angry glare to rival the one I had given Sari.

"Don't you think you're being hard on her, Prowl?" he demanded angrily, "She isn't your daughter, you can't tell her what she can and can't do."

"I know that, Bulkhead, I just…I love her like one. She needs us to be the best family we can be. She's been kicked out of her home, her father is missing, and there is no record of her existence. Regardless of whether or not anyone else notices it, Sari is angry and is looking for ways to rebel against what life has suddenly thrown her way. This is just the beginning, and if we don't take care of it now, it will get out of hand, and we won't be able to change it. Does anyone else understand what I mean?"

"No," answered Bumblebee. I turn slowly to face him and reply,

"Of course you don't. You're just as young as she is. What I'm trying to say is that if we let her get away with this kind of behavior, she's going to become impossible to control!"

"And who said we had to control her?" asks Ratchet angrily, arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"I suppose you want to deal with a disrespectful, dirty-mouthed little brat?" I shoot back, irritated and frustrated that no one is seeing this the way I am. Ratchet sighed, then said dismissively,

"Have her write a paper. But nothing more. What you consider caring, loving acts are seen as tyranny to her. She'll only spiral out of our servos if she feels her limits here are being made even tighter. Trust me, kid, it will happen, no matter how much she loves us. She loves us, and we love her. Let her have some time alone, and then go back to her tonight. Just to talk. Give her the assignment tomorrow, okay?"

"Very well. I'll do that." I left the room in a bit of a huff, anxious to get away from those idiots I call teammates, to go meditate for a while before going to talk to Sari.

* * *

A couple hours later, I knocked on Sari's door and received no answer. I sighed, knowing full well she was in there and doing her best to ignore me. So I simply warned her that I was going to open the door whether she wanted me to or not. Again, I received no response. This alarmed me, so I rushed in, only to find that Sari was not in her room.

"Sari? SARI! OPTIMUS! SARI ISN'T IN HER ROOM!" Optimus and Bulkhead both ran into her room and gasped when they saw it for themselves. Bulkhead, the protective 'bot he is, hollered,

"SAAAAARRRRRIIIIII! GET OUT HERE, NOW!" There was silence for a moment, and both Optimus and I are thinking how stupid that was, when somewhere in the corner, we heard the shuffling of feet. Turning our full attention to the sound, I sighed with relief as Sari walked out form behind a pile of her stuffed toys, wrapped in her blanket and eyes red from crying.

"What?" she sniffed as she rubbed her nose. She still looked incredibly angry at me, and refused to make eye contact with me. Bulkhead looked down at her and answered,

"Don't ever do that again, Sari. You had us worried! I thought you ran away or got kidnapped again. Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry Bulkhead. I'm still mad at Prowl for being a jerk face." I made an artificial coughing sound and stepped in.

"I'm right here, Sari. I can hear you." Sari ignored me, however, and continued to speak with Bulkhead until Optimus had had enough.

"Sari, that's enough out of you. I know you're upset, but ignoring Prowl and calling him names isn't going to help. You two are going to have a talk about this right now, whether you want to or not. You are going to reach some kind of compromise and you are going to be punished for your earlier behavior and this. Is that understood?"

"You're being a stupid head too," Sari spat, shocking the three of us. She gives Optimus her most deadly, angry little girl eyes ever, and for a moment, Optimus is silent, either from shock or disappointment. But then he opens his mouth again, and out comes the ultimate punishment:

"You are grounded, young lady. You can't go over to your friends' house for two weeks, and you're most certainly not allowed to have any candy for those two weeks either. You'll go to school and come home, nothing else. I'm taking the key too."

"WHAT!? NO! THE KEY IS MINE, AND YOU AREN'T MY DAD! YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Sari had never screamed so loud before. I kneel down beside her and hold out a hand to get her to listen.

"Sari…please. We—we're—"

"WHAT?" Sari yelled at me as she smacked my hand away, "YOU'RE WHAT? CONCERNED? WORRIED? NO, YOU'RE ALL MAD AT ME AND YOU ALL HATE ME!" She ran off again to her stuffed toys and dived in to hide herself, where she began to cry again. I looked at Optimus and Bulkhead and spoke to them through our wireless connection.

"Both of you should go. I will talk to her, she'll be fine."

"But—" Bulkhead started, but I waved him off.

"No, Bulkhead, you should both go. Don't send anyone in; I just want to talk to her. She's clearly upset about something else, and it's time I found out what. She misses her father very much, that may be the problem."

"Well," said Optimus, "all right. Let me know if you need my assistance. Good luck." He walks out, and Bulkhead follows soon after, shooting a quick, worried glance over at Sari's stuffed animals. I quietly close the door and walk over to the pile, sit down and say,

"Sari. Let's talk." I received no answer of course, but I didn't give up. "Sari. I need you to listen to me, all right? I'll listen to you if you listen to me. I know you're angry, I know you're upset. We don't want to yell at you, we have no real reason to do so. We're just—we all love you very much and we don't want you to get hurt or in trouble at school."

"Leave me alone," she growled.

"I will not," I answered, "I'm staying right here until we figure something out. There's something bothering you, and I think you want to talk about it. I'm here, I want to listen."

"Why? So you can yell at me for saying one little bad word? Yeah, right." Sari's stuffed toys shift around, which means she's digging deeper into them, to get away from me and the conversation. I reached in and grabbed her foot, then pull her out and hold her to my optics level.

"Put me down!" she yelled, taking a few swipes at my face with her little fists. I simply stared at her until she cooled down, then placed her in my hand carefully before speaking again.

"Sari, please listen. You know I'm upset, but do you really understand why I'm upset?"

"Because you're a control freak and you never let me do anything."

"That's not true and you know it, Sari. Why do you think I'm upset?" Sari kicked my thumb in response and repeated herself. I groaned, exasperated and annoyed, then answered the question myself.

"Sari, I'm upset because when you used that word, you hurt me. I felt like I hadn't taken good enough care of you—why else would you use such language? Did I do something wrong earlier today that made you angry?"

"No," Sari grumbled, crossing her arms, "you didn't. It just slipped, okay? Geez. People make mistakes you know. Not everyone is perfect."

"I never said I was—Sari, PLEASE. Help me here. What happened?"

"NOTHING HAPPENED!" Sari yelled suddenly, "I JUST WENT TO AVANI'S HOUSE AND WE WATCHED T.V. AND PLAYED WITH DOLLS. THAT'S IT!"

"T.V.? You mean television?" I was being serious, I had no idea they would go watch television on a play date. Sari groaned and answered,

"Duh. So what?"

"Did you watch a program that had bad words in it?"

"Avani's older sister watching some movie and they said bad words, yes. Whatever. When I'm a grown-up I can anywhere I want and say and do whatever I want, you know."

"I know," I answered, "but right now, you are not a 'grown-up', and you live here, with us. And we have rules. Sari, you know those rules. You won't be a little girl forever. You should use your time doing other things, rather than watching television and being influenced by them. And think about this: if you used a word like that in school, what would happen?" Sari was quiet for a moment, mulling the question in her head. I waited patiently for her to come up with an answer.

"My teachers would probably send me to the principal's office…?"

"And?"

"And…I would have to go to detention?"

"Go on."

"And they would call you?"

"Absolutely. And how do you think I would react if I were the one to receive such a phone call?" Sari looked up at me meekly and answered,

"You'd be really, really angry."

"You got it. Sari, do you understand why I'm so alarmed by this? I don't want you to get into any trouble, and I certainly don't want to yell at you, for anything. I promise you that. If I do, it's because I care so much about you, and I don't want to see you turn into someone on the television. I want you to be you."

"Well, you could have done that without yelling at me." Sari crossed her arms and shot me a dark look. I simply answered,

"I believe I was trying to be diplomatic about it. You were the one to yell about me being a 'big, dumb stupid robot', yes? Can we put this behind us, Sari?" She very nearly stuck her tongue out at me, but then thought better of it and sighed, defeated. She knew I was right.

"All right, fine, Prowl. But next time, don't scare me like that. And tell Optimus I don't want him to yell at me again. I don't like that. My dad never yelled at me, and neither should he." I nodded and smiled, then placed Sari down on the floor. She walked over to her stuffed toys, grabbed her blanket and wrapped herself up in it once more. She walked back over to me and stared at me for a few minutes. Then, after that short period of time, she said,

"Can you read me a story?" I nodded and answered,

"Of course I can. Go brush your teeth and get your pajamas on, and if you can, go see Bulkhead. He's very worried about you." Sari nodded and ran off to her little tasks while I comm.ed Optimus to update him on the situation. I gave him Sari's request, and he said he would apologize to her later tonight, after her story.

It was moments like this that made me feel like I could really be a good parent. We didn't hear Sari swear again until 'high school'.

* * *

**Shitty, right? Yeah. Bad ending, mistakes, whatever. It's crap. Love it, hate it, whatever. I've been feeling more retarded than usual, so my fics are gonna be crap for a while. Sorry.**

**-J**


	7. The Crush, Part One

**Hey all. I was gone for a while, at a wedding, visiting a friend, doing other stuff, and had like, no time to write. Or I was in writer's block mode. I've been tired a lot too. Ugh. Anyway, I'm here, I'm queer, get used to it! I mean…here's the new chapter. Prowl is doomed.**

**-Juana**

**Chapter Seven: The Crush, Part One**

We've all noticed it. Sari's behavior has suddenly changed for the better, and we all couldn't be happier. She doesn't argue with me over her homework, she doesn't defy bedtime, or beg for candy. She eats her dinner, she watches the television she's allowed to watch without putting up a fight for ten extra minutes, and she even gets ready for school on her own.

Needless to say, of course I am shocked. I always knew Sari was an independent, intelligent organic, but her new attitude is too much at once, and I decided one night I would ask her about it. Not that it's a negative change—far from it—but I want to know what brought this on.

Sari and I make her dinner and clean up afterwards. She asks me if I'll read a chapter of her school book to her, and I agree. She hugs my leg and runs off to perform her nightly bedtime ritual of brushing and flossing her teeth, washing her face, undressing and redressing in clothing meant solely for sleeping, and other little things I am not allowed to know about because I am a 'boy'. Whatever that is supposed to mean, but I respect Sari and her wishes.

I wait for her outside her room, like I have done every night since our last argument over her use of a swear word. I like to be there now out of paranoia and my protective nature. Sari likes that I wait because apparently my presence wards off 'boogie monsters'. I really must learn these things and their meanings. Humans have so many fears, and yet I have never seen proof of these so-called monsters.

"Prowl?" she calls, "You can come in now!" I open the door, enter, and close the door quietly behind me. Sari giggles and hugs her stuffed rabbit as I sit down, then hands me her teacher's latest assignment, a book of poems about nature. No wonder she wanted me to read it to her. I take the book carefully, seeing as I could very easily shred it if I wanted to (I have very sharp fingers). Sari gets comfortable before giving me her 'you can start' look.

I begin with a poem about dragonflies, then go on to one about marching ants. I look down at Sari to make sure she's paying attention, and find that she is—she's staring at me and hiding half her face behind her rabbit.

"Sari? Are you all right?" She nods and says,

"Keep reading!" I smile and nod, then continue to read, going though three more poems before I notice that's she's doing it again. I close the book, place it beside my foot and look at Sari.

"Why do you keep staring at me like that, Sari? Is something wrong? Do you need to talk?" Sari shakes her head and answers,

"No. I just like it when you read to me. Ten more poems, okay?" I answer,

"Sari, I'm thrilled you want me to read to you, but it's time for you to go to bed. Come on, under your blanket." Sari groans and tries to convince me to read more; she starts to beg as though I'm telling her to get away from the television. It's…odd.

Ten minutes later, though, I succeed in getting her under her blanket. I had to lift her up and place her there myself, but that is beside the point. Sari doesn't shoot me an angry glare, but instead looks up at me with big eyes. I look back, open my mouth to ask her what she's staring at, but she beats me:

"Prowl, can I have a kiss goodnight?" I swear, one day I'm going to have a spark-attack with all these shocks she keeps giving me.

"A what? For what reason?" Sari answers with a huge grin,

"It'll help me sleep."

Oh. Well, if it's to get her to sleep, very well. I stare stupidly at her for a moment, then ask,

"…How do I do this?" Instantly, Sari jumps up from her place in her bed (much to my dismay and frustration) and exclaims,

"Like this! Come down here so I can show you!" I obey her command, lean my face down towards her, and flinch as her little hands grab my face. She presses her lips to my cheek and then giggles.

"That's how! Now you try." I shake my head and think, 'this is a very odd custom', then pick her up in my hand, where I lift her up to my face and repeat the action, except I kiss her forehead. Sari giggles again and kisses my cheek again, and because I don't know anything about it, I kiss her forehead again. After the third time, however, I place her back down and say,

"Good night, Sari. Hopefully that will help you sleep. Remember, you have school in the morning."

"Okay! 'Night, Prowl. I love you."

"Good night, Sari."

"G'night!"

"Good night."

Silence. I barely pass through the door when Sari calls again,

"Good night!" I turn around to give her a look, then smile as she dives under her blanket to hide. I was barely able to hold in my chuckle as I turned the lights out, but as I left, I swear I heard Sari call out another 'I love you' before I closed her door.

* * *

The next morning was just as perfect as the past several mornings. I went in to wake Sari up, discovering earlier that poking her arm for a minute or two did the trick, cooked her breakfast for her while she was getting dressed, putting her backpack together, brushing her teeth and finally hitting the road for school. After I dropped her off, I decided to go see Captain Fanzone. Something was bothering me, and I needed answers as soon as possible. I decided to call him first.

"Y'ello?" He sounds a bit tired, considering it is quite early for me to be calling him. I decide not to ask to come over for a visit.

"Hello, Captain."

"Oh, fer crying—Prowl, do you know what time it is? Do you freakin' robots ever sleep or power-down or whatever it is you do?"

"Recharge? Yes, of course we do. Please, I know I'm calling at a most odd time, but I had a question. About Sari." I can hear him place something glass-like on his table, then the screech of a wooden chair upon tile. He grumbles something incoherent. Finally, he says,

"All right, Prowl, what's up?" I answer quickly,

"Sari has been acting odd lately. She no longer throws fits, nor does she put up a fight with me over bedtime or television like she used to."

"It means she's growin' up, Prowl."

"She asked me to kiss her last night."

"Oh really." It is not a question, and there is a hint of amusement in his tone, but I can't understand why.

"What does it mean, Captain? Why did she want me to do that?" Now I can hear Fanzone laiughing.

"I think Sari has a crush on you, Prowl. It means she likes you. A lot."

"Oh. Well, that's good. I like her too."

"No, I mean…uh, how should I explain this…HONEY!" He suddenly bellows for someone I don't know, and a few moments later I hear a female human's voice call back,

"YES?"

"HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN A LITTLE GIRL'S CRUSH TO A GIANT ROBOT?"

"WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?"

"BECAUSE THAT'S HIS QUESTION." I hear the female ask for the phone, there are some fumbling sounds, and then,

"Hi, who is this?" I answer politely,

"This is Prowl. I'm one of the Autobots. I'm the…dark one." I recall having to describe myself this way for Avani's parents, so I figured it would work here too.

"Oh, yes, the motorcycle. Yes, well, what seems to be the problem?" The female sounds extremely helpful, and a quick search on 'two humans living together' tells me that this is Captain Fanzone's 'wife', or bondmate. I can trust her.

"Last night, Sari was acting odd. She was listening to me, doing as she was told, and even asked me to give her a kiss goodnight. I don't understand this sudden change in her behavior—a few days ago she hated me."

"Ah, yes. It IS a crush. How old is Sari, Prowl?"

"Uh…eight human years, six months, fourteen days and eleven minutes old."

Silence for a moment, then laughter. Why must the humans laugh every time we use our vocalizers?

"Very cute, Prowl. Can all the Autobots do calculations like that?"

"Well, yes. Can't humans? I know you haven't got computers in your CPUs.—I apologize, I mean brains , but can't you—"

"Only some people, not everyone. And even that was too advanced for us to figure out on our own. Back to Sari," her tone is dismissive, "Prowl, a crush is when a girl, or a boy, finds someone…not attractive in a sexual sense, but in a protective, loving, caring sense. If you've been taking good care of her, Sari probably sees you as someone she'll always have to protect her. As a result, you have become the most important person in her life, and she mistakes her feelings for you as love."

"So she isn't in love, but she is…?"

"Sari probably sees you as her hero; that's what it sounds like. Children do it often—crushes are just very strong feelings. They usually tend to lead to something more serious in the older children, like teenagers. I think right now she's just going through a phase. Continue to spend time with her, and continue to show her you're in charge. Don't let her crush on you make you feel like you have to be less strict—you'll lose her and she'll lose her respect for you."

I process the information and try to reach a final, logical answer from it. As Bulkhead would say, this Earth stuff is hard. So Sari is experiencing feelings of love, but it's not really love. I think I may just ask her myself. I voice this to Mrs. Captain Fanzone, and she answers,

"Not right away, Prowl. Give her some time. If you bring it up now, she'll just get angry and most likely be embarrassed. Give it a few days, maybe a week or two, and if she starts to get too clingy, bring up in calmly and away from anyone else. She's little, and little minds are fragile. Imagine handling this situation like carrying glass—one slip and it's destroyed."

"I think I understand," I state, still very unsure and worried and not at all prepared to terminate the connection, but I can tell from Mrs. Captain Fanzone's tone that the conversation is nearing its end.

"Did any of that help, Prowl?" The question is asked so sweetly, and her voice is so full of concern that I want her to think she helped me greatly, so I answer,

'Yes, thank you. I think I understand what's going on."

"Well, good. Please, call me if you need anymore help, all right? I'm a nurse at a pediatrician's office…that means I'm a nurse for children…and I'm willing to help with anything that may seem odd."

"Thank you, Mrs. Captain Fanzone. I—" I'm interrupted suddenly by the loudest laughter I have ever heard. It goes on for a quarter of a breem, but I can't see what she found that was so funny. I can hear Captain Fanzone in the background asking what had happened, his wife's muffled explanation, and then his laughter joins in with hers. It was all very confusing. Had I said something wrong or made an unintentional joke?

Once again there is some fumbling with the phone, and Captain Fanzone is back on the line with me. He is still laughing, and I have to wait another minute or two for him to cough away the last of it. Finally, as the last few laughs leave him, he gasps into the receiver.

"H-hey, Prowl. I—HAHAHA! Hehehe…hoooo boy…you're a riot, I'll give ya that."

"I'm sorry, Captain, but I'm afraid I don't understand what you and your wife find so funny."

"'Mrs. Captain Fanzone'—Prowl, all you have to say is Mrs. Fanzone. Or Ellen. That's her name. My first name is Bill. But Mrs. Captain Fanzone—I don't know if you understand why it's so funny, but it is. Anyway, listen, ya ever need help with the Sumdac kid, you just let us know. You've been takin' good care of her so far. I've seen you take her to school, pick her up, let her play on the playground, everything. You're doin' a good job. Everything me wife told you, listen to her. Ellen knows what she's talkin' about."

"Yes, Captain. I will. She seemed very knowledgeable." Fanzone chuckled again and answered,

"Oh yeah. She knows everything." Somewhere in the background I could hear Mrs. Cap—Mrs. Fanzone slapping his arm and laughing, "I do not!"

Fanzone laughed again, then said,

"Prowl, I have to get ready for the day. But I'm sure we'll run into each other at some point today or this week. Stay calm, and listen to my wife. Bye."

"Bye," I answer awkwardly, and the connection is terminated.

So now all I have to do is wait to pick up Sari. The day suddenly stretched before me like an ocean of anxiousness.

* * *

**I can see Prowl calling Fanzone's wife Mrs. Captain Fanzone. I might write her in for another story, sicne she could made into a really awesome older woman character, full of knowledge and such. I like characters like that. Read and review please!**


	8. The Crush, Part Two

**Holy hot dogs, it's been so incredibly long since I updated this fic. Well, I've been on it for a bit, and others of course, but been a bit slow on editing and such. Anyways, here's a new chapter.**

**-Juana**

**Chapter Eight: The Crush, Part Two**

That afternoon, Sari is back with me, having just been picked up. We are headed home, stuck in a tight bit of traffic when she asks me,

"Can we walk home today?"

We're only a mile away from the highway, so I safely pull over on the side of the road and transform for her.

"And why do you want to walk, Sari? I'll admit it is a beautiful day," I add as I look up at the clear, blue sky. Sari jumps in the air a few times and answers happily,

"Just 'cause!" I smile down at her and nod. It makes me so happy to know she wants to become even more active—she's always so full of energy. We start our journey down the sidewalk, where we run into a very busy street currently overloaded with school buses, parents picking up their children and teachers leaving from Sari's school and various other schools in the area.

"Sari," I say as I look both ways, "hold onto me. This is dangerous from a pedestrian view. I never realized how bad it could be." Sari leaps up and grabs my hand as best she can, gripping it with the incredible strength only a little girl could have. She actually manages to force me to bend over, just so that I can keep a hold on her. Even though I have no skin, I can still feel her sharp little fingernails scrapping against my hand. It's a little strange.

Moments later, the 'cross' sign flashes, and we cross the street. We are faced with the cheers and hoots of various human children, and the occasional whistle from a human adult. I'm not used to the 'hero worship', nor do I enjoy it the way Bumblebee does, so I move along quickly to get away from the noise. Once on the other side of the road, we start to walk on, but something keeps tugging at my arm. I look down to see what it could possibly be, and find that Sari has neglected to let my hand go.

"Sari," I say, "You can let go now. We'll be fine from here."

"Nah," she replies, "I think I need to hold on. Just in case."

"Sari, nothing here can hurt you."

"Nuh-uh. I'm not letting go." Sighing, I lift Sari up, seeing as she's pretty much attached herself to my hand like a barnacle, and pick her off by grabbing the neck of her dress. I place her back down, only to have her latch onto my leg like a leech. I groan and smack myself in the forehead, then repeat the process of forcing her to let go. Again she grabs me and I give up. We—well, I walk us home, Sari clinging to me like a little organic barnacle. It was so very odd.

* * *

Sari let go only after I threatened to take away story-time and ran off to her room to do her homework. Exhausted, frustrated and just a little in need of some high-grade, I plop down on the giant couch Bulkhead had miraculously found a while back, and off-line my optics. I focus on the blissful silence surrounding me for a mere breem before Bumblebee comes strolling in, loudly singing some song he'd heard on Antique Rock Radio.

"WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE! IT WAS ALWAYS BURNING SINCE THE WORLD WAS—HI, PROWL!"

"Ugh…why must you be so loud? Can't you go a breem without talking?"

"Nope!" Bumblebee answers cheerily as he sits down next to me, "We tried that already, remember?"

"Yes, I recall. You couldn't do it." Bumblebee's tone turns angry.

"Hey, shut up. I did it, and I can do it again." This coming from the mech that just admitted he couldn't keep quiet for a breem. At this point I'm too tired to really care, so I online my optics, notice he's carrying a can of oil and say in a most uncharacteristic way,

"Bumblebee, I'm sick of listening to you. Shut up for once." I snatch the can out of his hand and, to his shock and amazement, down it in mere seconds. I hand it back to him, devoid of oil now, and get up to go to my room. Bumblebee doesn't say anything, nor does he follow after me. Did I mention I had wanted some high-grade? Oil was the next best thing.

As I walk to my room, I can hear Sari singing as well. I decide to check it out; I can only assume that she's watching television or blasting her radio and completely neglecting her homework. I don't go in to her room, I merely peek in and see that she is actually on her bed, writing in a pink and yellow notebook I've never seen before. I can tell she's passionate about whatever it is she's writing about, because she's writing speedily. She is also singing something very 'lovey-dovey', and I realize this may be part of her 'crush' on me.

KNOCK KNOCK.

Sari's singing ceases immediately. She calls out,

"Who is it?" I answer,

"It's Prowl."

"Oh," she answers back, "Hi! Come in!" I enter her room and sit down on her floor, facing her. I reach my hand out for the book and say,

"Sari, may I see your homework for the night?" With a loud snap, Sari slams the covers of the book together, hiding its contents from me. She hugs the book and says loudly,

"NO, you can't see this one. This is my diary. You do know what a diary is, right?" I shake my head and answer that no, I don't. She stares in complete surprise at me, then explains:

"A diary is a private book, and the only person allowed to look at it is the writer. Me. You can't read it, Bumblebee can't read it, not even Avani or my teachers can read it."

"And what sorts of things do you write in it?"

"Anything! I write about my day, what cool adventures we had, drawings, doodles, poems and whatever else I want to put in it."

"Is there anything inappropriate or grown-up in there I should know about?"

"Ew, like politics? BORING! I only keep cool kid stuff in here. I even pasted a photo of my birthday cake from three years ago in here! I was little back then." I smile and nod, then ask,

"When do you plan on getting to your homework?"

"After I'm done with my diary." She gives me a wide, toothy grin.

"And will you be needing any assistance with your homework?" She answers almost instantly,

"OKAY! Just gimme…ten minutes, 'kay? I gotta finish my diary entry." She stares at me for a moment, and then I realize that I'm supposed to leave her room. I do not know what will happen if I see her diary, but I don't want to know. Perhaps a human curse of some sort will embed itself in my spark? I do not know, and I decide to not ask Sari. I simply get up, leave her bedroom and wait for her outside in the hallway.

While I wait (for longer than ten minutes, might I add), I look up 'diary' on the Internet to get a clearer understanding of what she's keeping. I find what Internet users call "blogs", but they don't seem to fit the same format as Sari's little book. Finally, I stumble upon a site that discusses them in full detail:

_"__A __diary__ is a record (originally in written book format) with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Schools or parents may teach or require children to keep diaries in order to encourage the expression of feelings and to promote thought."_

Expression of feelings? It hits me that Sari might be writing strange little 'crush'-related entries in her diary. Perhaps tomorrow I will take a quick look, just to be sure.

"You can come in now!" I reenter Sari's room and sit down, ready to start some homework. I scan the room for the diary, only to find that it's suddenly missing.

"Sari, where is your diary?" She giggles and answers,

"You're silly! Everyone knows you're s'possed to hide your diary! It's secret. Not even my dad or God can read it. It's forbidden. Let's start with math, since you're really good at it."

"A-HEM, young lady," I retort, "It's not my homework."

"'It's not my homework'," Sari throws back in a taunting, childish voice that is meant to be a mockery of my voice albeit a very poor mockery, "Come on, Prowl, I was just being funny."

"Well, your 'funny' attitude is going to get you grounded for a weekend if it doesn't end right now." Sari suddenly drops her 'innocent' face and act. She glares at me angrily, then says,

"You know what? I can do my homework by myself. I don't need your stupid help." Oh no. It begins. I kneel down beside her and reply,

"Sari, I'm here to help you with your homework, just like every night. Let's not argue, please? I just want to help you, not do it for you. You know that." She grumbles something at me, then says out loud,

"Yeah, well, I can do it myself. Leave me alone."

"Oh, for crying out loud, Sari. What is going on? You give me this snotty attitude, I react to it the way anybody would, and then you get angry at me. It's a never-ending cycle, and I'm sick and tired of it. Just stop already." The exasperated tone in my voice and the way I'm using words is obviously a surprise to her, because she doesn't say anything. Her eyes get big, her mouth gets pouty, and then, the worst thing a child can do: she starts to cry.

Not just any cry, though. Normally, when Sari cries, she runs off, slams her door and hides. Her crying always sounds so normal, because it's something we've grown used to. But not this time. This cry is different, I can hear it. There's more emotion and true sadness in this. I think it may have to do with her crush on me. Which is just fantastic; I think I may have made things hard for her and the rest of the base.

* * *

**Hopefully I'll have the third and final part up and ready sometime in the next month, but if not, just continue to be patient. I've got much to do. Thanks for all your support, too, guys, it's been helping. Really.**

**-Juana**


	9. The Crush, Part Three

**Chapter Nine: The Crush, Part Three**

"Sari…Sari, please, don't cry. I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." I'm on my knees and nearly begging now for Sari to end her sobbing. She's been crying like this for ten minutes now, squeezing her stuffed rabbit and refusing to look at me. She hasn't run off yet, not that she would have any place to go—this is her room, the place she always hides in. I don't know what to do this time. All of her other crying fits had an easy solution, but this one…

She sounds like her heart has been metaphorically ripped out. I feel horrible, and I try hard to let her know how sorry I truly am for snapping at her. Her sobs reach my teammates' audios, and all four of them enter her room to see if they can mediate the problem.

"Sari, what's wrong?" Optimus asks as he kneels down next me. Sari just cries louder into her toy and ignores the question.

"Prowl, what the frag did you say to her?" Bumblebee growls angrily, "Every time we leave her with you she ends up upset. What is wrong with you?"

"I snapped at her when I shouldn't have," I admit, looking at the floor, "I didn't mean to, it just slipped out."

"Well," said Optimus, "I think you should go. Sari, do you want to be left alone right now?" She nods, squeezing her rabbit ever tighter. Optimus places a hand on my shoulder as an indicator to keep my mouth shut, let's leave the room, Sari needs some alone time. I reluctantly obey, getting back to my feet and exiting the room, followed by Ratchet, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Optimus, who stays back just to ask what happened.

Sari speaks so quietly that I couldn't hear it even if I tried to eavesdrop on them, so I just go to my room and sit down at the base of the tree. Moments later, Optimus enters without knocking, closes my door and sits down beside me. He's wearing a stern, concerned face, and I can only think he has some bad news for me.

"Prowl," he begins, "Sari's very upset right now. She told me what happened, and I don't blame you for getting frustrated with her. She can be a little…hard to deal with, trust me, we all know it. I asked her why this hurt her so much, but she didn't answer. She just showed me a book she had hidden in her bed, under the mattress. It's a diary. I asked if I could show you what was in it."

"And?"

"Apparently Sari is in love with you."

Ah. The crush, of course. I explain to Optimus what Fanzone and his wife told me, using a few examples of her recent behavior to illustrate the situation. Optimus listens intently, trying to gain a better understanding of the problem and most likely searching for a solution. After my little lecture is done, Optimus hands me the little pink and yellow book and tells me to look inside.

"Optimus," I protest, hands up to avoid holding the book, "I can't. She told me no one is allowed to look in it. I do not know what will happen if I open it. Humans consider these as sacred books, they—"

"Prowl, it's a diary. We have them on Cybertron, just not in book form. Didn't you ever use one?"

"Well, no, I never—"

"Just look." He's wearing that look on his face, the one he uses often when he's being serious and annoyed at the same time. I have a history of getting on his bad side, and I'd rather not start a little war between the two of us, so I take the diary, open it up and begin to flip through the pages, trying not to actually pay attention to what I'm seeing. But despite my best efforts to not pry into Sari's personal thoughts, I can't help but notice all the little crayon drawings, the millions of floating hearts, the impossibly large smiles on our illustrated faces.

Passages and passages of love-struck idolatry sprinkled with exclamation points and still more hearts flood this little book. A few photographs have been sloppily glued to some of the pages, some cut up, some with little captions above and below them. I vaguely recall a day where Bumblebee had obtained a human camera and had snapped pictures of everyone during a day at the park. One of the photographs in Sari's diary is of her and me, hanging upside down in a tree. I was trying to teach her endurance and patience, but now that I'm looking at the photo, my optics were off and she was staring at me with a huge grin on her face.

Sari didn't have just any crush on me; she was head over heels infatuated. Optimus waited patiently for my reaction, as though he could read my thoughts and was just waiting for me to say them out loud. I handed him the diary, then said,

"She's too young to feel this way about anyone yet, let alone a robot. Why me, anyways? I'm quiet, antisocial, withdrawn…"

"You take good care of her," interrupted Optimus, "You take her to school, pick her up, feed her, read to her, help her with her homework. You're even training her to defend herself; what's more protective and loving than that? You spend more time with her than the rest of us, even more than Bumblebee and Bulkhead! Sari comes to you in the middle of the night after having one of those nightmare things. Not even her own father had time to do these things. You're all she has right now, and she needs you. None of us know how to do what you've been doing."

Optimus is right. If I left Sari in his or Ratchet's hands, she'd be dead within a week. Don't even get me started on what would happen if I left her with Bumblebee and Bulkhead.

I sighed, realizing just how much of a mess I've made with my sudden outburst, and make the decision right there to go and talk to her. Clutching the diary close to me, I give Optimus a quiet nod and get up to discuss what needs to be discussed.

* * *

"Sari?"

I knock three times on her door and await her answer, but she never gives one.

"Sari, I'm going to wait another ten seconds, and if you don't let me come in with your permission, I'm going to come in on my own."

There's no sound, no permission at all. I silently count to ten, then open the door to her room and find she's hidden herself under all her blankets and is pretending to be asleep. With her lights still on, of course.

"Sari, I know you're awake. Let's talk, all right? I don't want to argue, or fight, I just want to talk. I'm sorry I snapped at you, I shouldn't have. I got frustrated, it happens all the time."

"Whatever," Sari mumbles, turning over in her bed so that her back in facing me, "I wanna go to sleep. Lemme alone."

"No, Sari," I answer, "We're going to talk now. I don't want us to fight."

"Yeah, well you should have been nicer."

"Sari, I'm always nice to you. I take very good care of you, and you know it. Would you prefer it if I let Ratchet take care of you? How about Bumblebee? Do they know how to cook, or when to pick you up from school, or would they care enough to help you with your homework?"

Sari is silent, because she knows they don't and they wouldn't.

"How about if I let Optimus take over as your caretaker? How often do you think you'd be able to have a sleepover with him in charge?"

"…never?"

"Exactly. Sari, this is a normal part of being little, and a normal part of being a guardian. It's normal to feel frustrated, it's okay to get upset, and it's fine to be mad. But it's not okay to suddenly hate someone for having feelings. Do you know why I was frustrated with you?"

"Because I was being rude?"

"Yes. Do you think I appreciate it when you act rude?" Sari answers quietly,

"No."

"So," I ask, starting to relax, "what do you think we could do to make sure this never happens again?"

"…I could be less rude, and you can count to ten every time I end up saying something wrong."

"Sounds good. Now, what are we going to do about this crush you have?" Sari is quiet again, not ready to discuss the subject just yet. But I am, and I want to get this out of her system as soon as possible. I want to be like her parent, not her boyfriend.

"Sari," I say as gently and non-judgmental as possible, "this is important, for both of us. I've known about your crush on me for a little while now, it's not a surprise to me. You don't need to be embarrassed, this is totally normal."

"No it isn't. Humans are supposed to have crushes on other humans, not robots. It's weird. It means there's something wrong with me." Oh dear. I press my servos against my face as I try to come up with a way to fix this, bit all I can do is sit and think. Moments later, a soft sob comes from Sari's bed. I remove my servos from my face and find she's weeping quietly into her pillow.

"Oh…oh, Sari…sweetheart, come here." I reach down and scoop her up into my servos carefully, bringing her as close as possible to a hug without squishing her. She wraps her own little ser—arms around my neck and sobs for a while without any explanation. I sit as still as I can and let her get it all out of her system.

When she's done, I place her back on her bed and ask,

"Sari, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm weird," she cries, "I'm a total freak! I have a crush on a giant robot, I live with giant robots, there's no record of my existence, I have no human friends, and I'm just weird! BWAAAAAAAAAA!"

The tears come back, and again she's in my arms.

"Sari," I say in between outburst, "you are not weird. I'm sure your existence is documented somewhere. That Powell man most likely photocopied your image onto a blank document, anyone could do that. You have Avani as a human friend, and she loves you. And just because you live with us does not make you weird or odd in any way. You're safe here with us, and not at some home for children without parental units. Would you rather be amongst strangers than with us?"

"*sniff*…No…." she agrees, wiping her opt—eyes with her hands."

"Sari, I hope we find your father. But right now, you're here with us, and you're safe. We all love you, I love you, but I want to love you like a parental unit. Will you love us as a family?"

Sari wipes her eyes again and nods silently. She's had a rough night, it seems, and she's ready to go to sleep. I lay her back down and tuck her in gently, humming a lullaby she taught me a while back. She shuts her eyes and starts to drift off.

"I'm glad we had this talk, Sari," I whisper as I turn off her lights, "good night, sweetheart."

* * *

**Oh my goodness. This might be the cutest, most sickeningly sweet thing I've ever written. Please review. Next up: The Sleepover From Hell!**


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